Asylum Diaries
by MysticShadowWanderer
Summary: He had a new goal now, his own objective outside his job. He wanted to discover this fragile looking woman’s oddities for himself his sights were set on Kamiya Kaoru. [BK][AU]
1. Prologue

**Asylum Diaries**

MysticShadowWanderer

Disclaimer: I've spent my whole life in love with despair...

* * *

Prologue

* * *

Kaoru's hands were pale and bloodless around the base of the black umbrella that protected her from the light rain. An involuntary sigh escaped her; _It's a lovely day for a funeral_, she thought as she stared absently at the warm brown earth in front of her. Who was in that dirt? She couldn't remember. Motherfatherbrothersister... it didn't matter. She didn't understand why she had to be with all these people, why they wouldn't leave her be. Strangers filed by her, the wide-eyed, childlike creature standing at the grave side, having stayed far longer than acceptable; these people, all familiar faces with no names, all the same, patted her on the back (she shuddered at their touches, but knew that she could not run from them), whispered formulated condolences, and she forgot the words as quickly as she forgot who they were here today to bury.

_Parents_, she told herself quickly, _Today we tossed my parents into the ground like so much useless garbage._

Friends and family watched Kaoru curiously, and as they took their leaves, one by one, they shook their heads sadly. Something was not right about that girl. The tragedy had surely jounced her out of her right mind. And they left it at that. Kaoru had never had any close friends, though her late parents had been in contact with many of their own, and the family was comprised of distant relatives. To all of these people who had turned out on the grey, somber day, Kaoru was a complete mystery, and they were all far too busy with their own troubles to take the time to unravel her secrets.

Watching the dirt in total silence save for the soft, sweet rise and fall of her breath, Kaoru realized somewhere in the back of her mind that she was far too fascinated by this process. This Americanized way of dealing with death, this burial in a box, was enrapturing, and she eyed the soft ground as if at any moment the corpses of her parents might rise again. She wondered what they looked like now, what they would look like months, or even years, from now. A small smile crept across her face, and the few people that remained near her backed surreptitiously away before finally deciding to take their leave of the cemetery. Soon she was alone save for one shadowed figure that watched, arms crossed over his chest, from where he leaned against an ancient tree while near-breathless, hushed laughter began to ring from her pretty lips.

* * *

Kenshin didn't like to watch; he didn't like to see the aftermath of his work. But somehow he had become involved in a way he despised, so he stood in the back of the small group of people, ignoring the rain that stained his hair blood red and lent a freckled pattern to the weave of his expensive suit. He didn't watch the onlookers as they reverently placed roses on the shining coffins, instead he focused on the child of the two people he'd killed. She looked as though she belonged anywhere but here, like she was removed from the entire process. He'd seen grief before, knew how different people responded to death, but she seemed unaffected. And that caught his interest.

Her eyes were clear, deep blue and cold, almost blank, and they were attentive to the encased bodies before her. Sleek black hair that had been left loose, presumably for the occasion, spilled over her right shoulder as her head tilted in a manner that displayed intense concentration and reflection. Kenshin wondered what she was thinking that replaced all those emotions that she was supposed to be feeling upon the untimely deaths of her parents. Body language told him that she was overly tense, like a frightened animal ensnared, and he realized that she did not like being surrounded by so many people. How strange she was, and how perfect a picture she made in her tailored black skirt and jacket, with the rebellious red silk shirt glaring out from underneath as if to dare anyone to comment upon it. Blinking to clear his coolly distant amber eyes, he noted the sweep of her dark lashes against her porcelain cheek and the way her lips were pursed with displeasure. What a mystery this girl was; she was the complete opposite of what he'd known her parents to be. He had a new goal now, his own objective outside his job. He wanted to discover this fragile-looking woman's oddities for himself; his sights were set on Kamiya Kaoru.

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A/N: Alright, I know I shouldn't have started a new story while I'm working on three others, but I don't care. This was compelling me to write it, so I listened. Ok, this might be... really disturbing. I'd give you the premise, but I don't want to ruin the story, so just beware. In case anyone cares to know, I've been listening to a lot of Otep while I've been writing this. Hopefully it won't get in the way of my other projects. Reviews are always lovely, my dears! 


	2. Convergence

**Asylum Diaries**  
MysticShadowWanderer 

Disclaimer: My sanity wrote a suicide note... but one of us is illiterate and the other is blind...

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Chapter One: Convergence

* * *

Kaoru could sense his presence, even though she had yet to turn and verify that the man was leaning against the tree, just a short distance behind her. She could feel the energy radiating off him in waves, aloof and calculating, powerful. A lazy smirk stained her features; he was red, whoever he was. Red tinged with black and riddled with anomalies like holes in the roof of an otherwise secure home. In her mind, everyone was characterized by what color she felt from them. It didn't make any sense to anyone, but she knew she was right; after all, who were they to tell someone such as her that she was awry? 

It would be well worth the time to approach this man, she could sense that. Here was someone that would understand her. She trusted her intuition, it had never failed her yet. Replacing her self-satisfied expression with one of mild disinterest, she slowly released the umbrella that she found so distasteful and disrespectful to the rain; it rolled haphazardly until it settled on the freshly dug grave. _Well isn't that a pretty image_, she thought briefly before letting her attention shift elsewhere. That bloodstained man was waiting.

* * *

Kenshin raised one eyebrow, nearly imperceptibly, as he watched the Kamiya woman make her way towards him, her fingers trailing distractedly through the water droplets on a neighboring headstone. Her easy gait was misleading; she was only a slight loosening of the stress in her muscles away from sauntering. As he observed her from his unmoving station under the tree, it dawned upon him that she resembled a predator, albeit a young and slightly tremulous one. With a few more years, or perhaps a few more lovers, he could without difficulty imagine her as a man-killer. He wondered just how old she was; he could see that she knew what she wanted and was used to getting it, that much was obvious from the gentle, deliberate sway of her hips and the seductive pout that she wore. If it was a game she wanted, he was more than willing to play one, provided that they play by his rules. 

"How do you know my parents?" she asked quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. There was no grieving in her tone; she remained unaffected.

"Would you believe that I am the killer that stole from them their meaningless lives?"

Kaoru let out a husky chuckle at his words, noting the glint of his beautifully deceptive amber eyes. "In that case, there is only one option," she purred as she reached down in one fluid motion to draw a short knife from her knee-high leather boots. On an ordinary day she would have been fascinated by the sharpness of the blade as the rain ran down it in silver rivulets to flow over her hand, but today she was captivated by the slow, even throb of the pulse in his neck as she pressed her knife to his neck. She smiled sweetly and his eyes slid half shut, as if to savor the moment.

"I see," she said slowly, letting the blade dip just low enough to draw a thin red line across his neck.

"Do you?"

She smiled again and then, so slowly that he was certain he could see her thoughts, dropped the blade in the wet grass, turning her back on him. Without a single word, she walked away, her pace steady and self-confident.

"Don't think that you won't see me again, Kaoru," Kenshin said, and though his voice was quiet, he knew that she heard.

* * *

"Kaoru. Kaoru..." the voice was not anyone that she recognized, and she sat bolt upright in bed, her eyes flying open. 

_What do you want? Who's there?_ She didn't ask her questions aloud, for she had never found the need to do so. Answers always dropped from the sky for her, right into her mind. She knew she had a gift in that way.

When no one answered she sighed heavily in annoyance and flopped back down into her pillows, trying once more to find a position of comfort. The blood pulsing through her ear sounded like a million ants marching down her pillow and she suddenly realized that the silence of the room was overwhelming. With shaking hands she fumbled hastily with the CD player that rested on her bed near her pillow, this time remembering to program it to repeat. There was nothing more panic-inducing than waking up to silence and thousands of voices that didn't belong to her. As the simple yet potent melodies of A Perfect Circle washed over her, she breathed out in contentment and allowed herself to slip off to sleep with the final thought that she would indeed be seeing her mighty assassin again.

* * *

Kenshin's lips drew upward in a rapacious grin. It was his birthday today, and though more centuries had passed than he could even remember, he would have his gift. This woman was young, younger than him, but age did not matter to them and she was more than a temptation. She lay entangled in her sheets, her black silk hair rumpled delectably around her head in a dark halo. Her wings were deep purple. 

He stalked to her bedside and crawled over her body, breathing heavily. His lips fell upon her neck, biting and sucking until she moaned needily in her sleep. Those blue eyes needed to be open, and he moved his hungry mouth down her body until she opened them languidly. Her small hands came up to run through his hair and stroke his dark green feathers. He arched under her touch, his hips pressing into hers with a need he'd never felt before. She responded in kind and was already crying out in ecstasy as he enfolded her in his wings.

* * *

A/N: Interesting. Very interesting. I'm struggling slightly with how to write this, so the chapters are kind of short. I'm really having fun with this one... Just let me warn you, it's probably going to be really confusing, but that's the point. Don't really try to comprehend too much at first, it will all be revealed later. 


	3. Hunted

**Asylum Diaries  
**MysticShadowWanderer

Disclaimer: The radio is brainwashing me, filling my head with these self-conspiracies...

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Chapter Two: Hunted

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At the shrill insistence of her alarm clock, Kaoru awoke feeling cold, missing the heat of a body next to hers. She hated sleeping alone. Stretching her arms and smacking the "off" button on her alarm violently, she smiled cheerlessly when she found that she was clenching a fistful of feathers. This always happened; her lips turned downward in a pout.

_It's going to be one of those days._ She hated those days almost with the same passion that she loved them. Groaning as the light filtered dully through the thick fabric of the curtains which were still drawn closed (she remembered that being another one of _his_ actions), she reached for the phone that sat near her bed. With a few well-fashioned excuses, she called in sick to work and rolled over to go back to sleep.

After a few moments of restless movement in an attempt to seek out seemingly unattainable comfort, she realized that her music no longer suited her mood. The CD player that was sitting more comfortably than she on her bed was crooning Savage Garden, and while she would admit readily that Darren's voice was nearly orgasmic, she could no longer connect with the lyrics and the up-tempo beats. Frowning when she realized she must have switched CDs half-consciously during the night, she flipped through her collection of discs and selected something more fitting. She felt like depressing herself today, as if she hadn't done a worthy job of that already.

_"She was only seventeen, and forced to blame it on herself as she hides away to tame the pain she feels..."_

Kaoru sighed in contentment; this was more like it. If she wasn't in tears by the end of the day, she would be terribly upset with herself. To further aid her grim mission, she pulled out a book, forgoing sleep in favor of one of her darlings, Faulkner. There was little better light reading than _As I Lay Dying_, save perhaps Mishima's _Confessions of a Mask_, but she had just finished that one again and she had lost track of how many times that totaled. She mused on her intelligence for a moment; she knew she was far more advanced than many people. _After all_, she thought with a derisive snort, _most people consider light reading to be one of those ridiculously formulated romance stories._

Her thoughts betrayed her hypocrisy, however, because she was no virgin to those smutty paperback novels. Shrugging to herself, she recognized that character flaw and dismissed it. _Whatever gets you off_, she smirked. That train of thought led her to think about her beautiful, fiery killer. A dreamy smile lingered on her lips and she drew the fingertips of one hand over them in a preoccupied fashion. He was magnificent, and he belonged to her. That green angel of an assassin was her possession and toy, even if he thought he owned her. He would learn soon enough.

* * *

Unnoticed, Kenshin watched from the corner as Kaoru immersed herself in her music and her literature. He had seen the look that crossed her face and he had heard those racy words running through her mind, and it pleased him immensely, so much so that he wanted to rip the book from her hands and pin those delicate wrists to the bed as he drowned himself in her. But he exercised some self-control, waiting for the moment to be right; for the time she didn't even see him, and that suited him well. After all, how much longer could it be before she denied herself her drugstore-shelf romance novels? He knew what was on her mind from the way she shifted and her concentration wavered. The wait would be well worth the reward, and he did love to watch.

And she thought he was hers; his smirk flourished into a full grin that displayed almost feline teeth, the type that were perfect in an erotic scrape or could easily draw blood. Who was to say, though, that those two things were not one and the same? He intended not only to prove that true but to establish his own dominance over her. Himura Kenshin was no woman's plaything, although he would admit that the idea was more than slightly arousing. What would she do if given full reign?

* * *

Several hours later, Kaoru was startled awake by the sound of shattering glass. On the floor stark naked was not how she remembered falling asleep, but she disregarded the fact as she slowly stretched every muscle in her body. She frowned; her wings hurt, and that made her feel raped. It didn't disturb her in the least that part of her liked the feeling. Unconsciously, her slender fingers went to rub at the skin between and over her shoulder blades, but it was, of course, to no avail.

The sound, she reminded herself, needed to be investigated. If any of her things were broken, there would be Hell to pay, and she would unleash it herself. It wouldn't take much provocation. With silent footsteps she padded down the hall to the kitchen, and in the midst of spotlessly gleaming pots and pans, there stood Kenshin, a food-filled plate in one extended hand and leaning genially against the counter. His apparent laxity did nothing to fool her as she accepted the plate and sat at the table. What was he after?

"How did you get in?" she asked lightly around a mouthful of a breakfast that was so late it may as well have been lunch.

"You should lock your door," he said in a low, rumbling voice that sent chills up her spine.

"I see," was all she replied.

"You seem to say that often." His comment was met by a noncommital shrug, which he accepted as an agreement. "Most women would scream and at least attempt to phone the police if they found a strange man in their kitchen."

"But you're not a strange man," she said, glancing up from her meal to show him just how her blue eyes flashed with the statement. "You've forgotten how long I've known you. Longer than the human mind can comprehend, at least."

Kenshin let out a short, self-satisfied laugh at her words. Firmly coercing her to stand, he pulled her tightly up against him, the heat between them almost searing. With his lips just a hair's breadth from hers and his body straining toward her, he breathed his words into her trembling mouth.

"So, my little angel, you still want me."

* * *

A/N: So yes, I expect that at this point you are thoroughly confused. Which means that my job for this chapter is done. Bwaha! You know those anime that are really strange and seem like the creators and writers and whatnot had to have been really fucking high when they wrote them? That's kind of what this is like. Just nod and smile and read on, because eventually it will make sense. I'm planning for a massive plot twist. I mean, seriously, you guys have no idea what's going to hit you. As a side note, I don't think this fic will be overly long, because I don't want to break anyone's mind, including my own, which can come under considerable strain while writing this. Take one guess who Kaoru is modeled after in this story. :grin: Love and key lime pie to all of my readers! And especially Bando-chan, whom I totally heart and who cooked up something that is absolutely awesome because she rocks my already kickass socks. :wink: Much love, dear! (By the way everyone... DON'T EAT THE FISH! anyone who has the new System of a Down CD knows what I'm talking about!) 


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